


Code Black

by orphan_account



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crack, Don't Like Don't Read, Fluff and Angst, Gen, I Don't Even Know, Mostly Gen, Multi, Original Character Shitfest, Original Character-centric, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-05
Updated: 2018-03-05
Packaged: 2019-03-27 06:25:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13875045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: "I have… an offer. A request, I suppose. The Avengers, as many of you may know, are in pieces. Half are wanted criminals, and the other half are in pieces. If aliens decided to fly out of the sky and attack New York again, Earth would be defenceless.“However, when they were whole, the Avengers did prove effective in protecting us. After the fall of SHIELD, SHADOW rose, understanding that SHIELD clearly couldn’t do what it was supposed to. Now that the Avengers have fallen, a new team must rise, for the safety of the world. I believe you’re all aware of what I’m asking. You were specifically chosen because of your relations to the Avengers, I’ll admit, but SHADOW wants you to be better. The world needs you to be better."After the fall of the Avengers and SHIELD, a new organization rises to take SHIELD's place and assembles a team to take the Avengers' place. A team comprised of teenage girls who are the next generation of heroes in more ways than one.





	1. Author's Note

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, starting with an Author's Note, I'm so awful. Shut up and read it.

Okay, here's the thing. I'm not pretty painting this, going to pretend this fic is something it isn't. This fanfiction is set in the Marvel universe, with main characters and storylines tying into existing canon characters and storylines, but the focus is not on canon.

That's not the point of this fic. Read any of my past works. I don't do OCs, I'm only interested in canon relevant characters. But for the sake of this fic, I'm trying something new. Experimenting, you could say.

I get comments on almost any of my poster WIPs, asking to add a teenage FOC. And I'm not stupid, I know it's usually a self-insert or reader insert, even if not written in the usual reader insert 2nd POV style. I know everyone wants to see themselves alongside their favourite heroes, being a badass motherfucker. And I totally get that. I think we all daydream about it sometimes, no?

But in all my other works, OCs had no place. They were like that one Uno card from another deck. They would stick out if I stuck them in there, and I don't want to do that. But I also want to make my readers, and the Marvel fandom in general, happy.

So tadah. Here it is. The ultimate OC work. In the beginning, there won't be a ton of interaction with canon, but we'll get there, I promise. It'll be a slow burn.

Now, bear with me, okay? I've never written an OC work, let alone an OC-centric work. So if you have some critiques, I'm open to any of it. Just don't be an asshole, and don't read this if it's not your thing? That should be a given, but you'd be fucking surprised.

I usually don't ask for comments, because I hate to be the needy whiney author who needs my ego stroked, but if you like this, please comment on it. If this doesn't get attention, I will orphan it. Once again, this isn't a style of fanfiction I'm used to, not an audience I've pandered to before. So I really don't know what to expect.

And lastly, remember, the point of this is to self-insert. If you see yourself as one of the main characters and think "wow, she's totally me!" well great, that's the point. Be her! Be badass! But it also means if you're a writer and know much anything about creating characters, you may find them a bit flat and cardboardy. Cliche or Mary Sues, I guess. I'm not really sure how they'll come across, but if they are Mary Sues, I get that. And I don't care. The point of this isn't to flesh out characterization and shit, it's to keep it all simple because I want my readers to see themselves in the characters. So don't bother pointing out "Mary Sue characterization" to me. I know it's there. If you want a show of my actual writing ability, this isn't the fic to be reading.

I've set up a [Tumblr ](https://marvel-fanwork-codeblack.tumblr.com/)for this entire universe/work, so if you have a question, headcanon, or whatever else that isn't just explicit praise/hate and you want my full attention to the response, do head over there. I'll set up a bunch of other stuff to go with this. Character aesthetics, edits, face claims, art, headcanons, asks, etc, as well as copies of each chapter archived on Tumblr as well. Follow and annoy me there if you want, but feel free to stick with AO3 commenting if that's what you prefer.

Alright, I think that's the obligatory info dump of what I had to say about this fic, you may proceed. 


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet the gang.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will use rotating POV, I don't want a specific character to be the MC here.

Natasha followed the directions on the wierd ass note that had been left in her apartment until she found an abandoned building. Which was probably one of the most suspicious things she’d ever found in a long time.

But she was already here.

Natasha slid through a broken window, and from the inside, the building didn’t look any more spectacular. It was a collection of dust and broken floorboards, a nasty scent of rotting wood in the air. She was almost tempted to leave. 

Beep. Natasha jerked her head to face the source of the noise, gaze apprehensive. She wasn’t sure what she expected to see but watching the cellar door slid open and reveal a set of white stairs headed down to a place that had a white light bleeding out of it.

“Well, if I die, it’ll be my own fault, and I accept that.” Natasha sighed, heading down the stairs.

At the bottom of the stairway, Natasha could hear the cellar door closing again behind her, and looking around, she felt like she had just walked through a portal.

In front of her was a long, white hallway, leading to a door. Everything was pristine, bright and flawless. Almost surreal.

Natasha took a breath, and walked down the hallway, boots clicking against the tiles and echoing around her. 

She let her hand rest on the door handle for a long moment, before shaking head and pushing the door open. Natasha squared her shoulders and walked through the doorway. No time like the present.

Walking into the room, Natasha’s first observation was that she was not the only person there. With a brief scan, she counted six other girls loitering about, who couldn’t look more different from each other. 

“At this rate, we’re going to have enough people to form a sports team.” A blonde girl in a beanie and whitewash jeans quipped. Natasha was about to respond when a door on the other side of the room slid open, and a clean-cut woman in a white suit walked in.

“Good, you’re all here.” She smiled, surveying the room. “My name is Emily Starling, and it is a true pleasure to meet all of you.”

“Might I say, it is not a pleasure to be here.” A tall brunette spoke up, a look of disdain on her face. Her accent was one Natasha couldn’t quite pin down. “To be called by Midgardians is degrading in itself, but to have to make my way through that disgusting building to get here was utterly revolting.”

“Midgardians? And who are you, Thor?” Natasha asked, folding her arms and leaning against the door. In the event things went sour, she wanted to be closest to the exit.

“I can assure you, I am not of Asgard.” The girl said, eyes narrowing.

“No, you most certainly are not.” The woman agreed, nodding. She glanced around the room again. “As I said, my name is Emily. I’m the leader of an organization called Specialized and Highly Adept Departmentalized Organization of Women.”

“Question,” The beanie girl raised her hand. “How long did it take you guys to think up an acronym that spelt SHADOW?” 

Emily Starling only chuckled. “I don’t believe that’s relevant.” She tossed auburn hair over her shoulder. “Now, if you young women are to take up my offer, I believe it is in order to introduce you to each other.” She pulled some sort of clicker thing out of her pocket, and with a press of a button, a projector flickered to life. “We’ll go in alphabetical order.”

She pressed the clicker again, and the beanie girl’s face appeared on the screen, with a list of stats next to the picture. “Bianca Barton. Daughter of Clint Barton and Natasha Romanova. She was raised in Budapest, Hungary until she was ten, and ran away, managing to get herself all the way to New York City by age twelve.” She began, flipping through pictures of Bianca’s childhood. “Once here, she started a life of thievery to sustain herself.”

Videos flickered to life, showing Bianca jumping over fences, breaking and entering, or just plain pickpocketing. Natasha had to admit, the girl had skill.She snuck a look at Bianca, who was only watching the feed with mild confusion.

“After learning of her heritage, Bianca taught herself to be proficient with most any weapon and basic combat skills, though most notably, a bow and arrow.” Emily smiled, switching the feed to footage of Bianca practising with a bow and arrow, as well as other target weapons.

“Look, man, the only thing I’m wondering is where the hell did you get that footage? I usually cut the cameras of places I break in or practice in places without cameras.” Bianca said after a beat of silence, eyebrows brought together.

“SHADOW has its ways.” Emily brushed the question aside in about the manner you’d expect a secret organization to. “Up next, Imani. Or, Kanda Black, if you’d prefer.” The woman changed slides, and a different face and file were projected.

Natasha glanced around, identifying Imani. She was African American with basic urban clothes. She looked concerned and apprehensive, constantly surveying the room. For a brief moment she and Natasha caught eye contact, but Natasha looked away.

“Born in Wakanda-” Emily started.

“I was born in Manhattan.” Imani interrupted. “And I’ve never been called ‘Imani’. It’s Kanda.”

Emily disregarded the comment with a simple look. “Born in Wakanda to parents Abdalla and King T’Chaka, Imani was a bastard child to a king in wedlock with a different woman, and T’Chaka demanded Abdalla and Imani leave Wakanda for her own safety. Imani renamed Kanda Black and lived a common life of a girl from New York City. However, her Wakandan roots came through, and she graduated years early,” A picture of Imani’s graduation showed on the screen. “already possessing a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, currently working as a mechanic. Growing up, her mother forced her to learn all forms of combat.” There was footage of her fighting in a classroom, kicking serious ass. Natasha let out a low whistle in appreciation.

“I’m not from Wakanda, and neither is my mother.” Imani was insistent.

“Imani, have you ever asked yourself, why you have the blue tattoo-like mark on the inside of your mouth?” Emily asked Imani didn’t answer. “It is the mark of a citizen of Wakanda.” The silence she got answered enough.

Emily changed the projection again, and the face and file matched the girl leaning against the wall, in all black and leather, glaring at everyone. “Jayla Barnes. Daughter of Rebecca Barnes, but more notably the niece of James Buchanan Barnes. After the success of James Barnes as the Winter Soldier, they sought out to create a second one. Wanting to choose someone with similar genealogy to him in hopes of the super soldier serum working on them too. Jayla was the optimal option, and thus, she was taken by HYDRA to become a second Winter Soldier.”

There was a video of Jayla as a Winter Soldier, and it was almost sickening. Her robotic style of fighting, her dead eyes and ability to heartlessly kill.

“After the HYDRA takeover of SHIELD, she had an opportunity to escape through all the chaos and did. She’s been on the run, under fake names and high secrecy, hiding from anyone.” Emily finished, showing pictures of Jayla in street clothes, hood down and body language shut off.

Jayla had a furious glare directed towards Emily, for blowing her cover, Natasha could assume. Emily ignored the look and moved on.

The next file on the screen was the girl who’d called the rest of them Midgardians. “Kari, daughter of Laufey, the leader of the ice giants, in the realm of Jotunheim. Despite being Jotun, Kari spent her time in Asgard, in a secret apprenticeship under her half-brother, Loki, learning magic and combat skills. After being found out as a Jotun, she left Asgard and came to Earth, spending most of her time generally wreaking havoc on New York City.” She showed pictures and videos of Kari taunting and using minor spells against unsuspecting humans.

“Wait, you’re Loki’s sister?” Imani looked up. “You aren’t about to try and take over the world, are you?”

Kari only shrugged. “I do what suits me.”

Emily only watched the interaction with a faint smile. This time, the next face on the screen had Natasha staring at herself. “Natasha Stark, daughter of Tony Stark, and an Italian woman named Maria Carbonel who he had a one night stand with. Born in Italy, however, she moved to New Jersey at age eight. After her mother’s abrupt death at age fifteen,” Natasha flinched at seeing a picture of the car accident that had taken her mother’s life. “Natasha turned to… work as a… sort of showgirl for a nightclub to make needed money.”

“I prefer the term pole dancer,” Natasha said, staring at her nails.

A video of one of Natasha’s routines, dancing both on the floor and on a pole showed, her body moving and stripping in accordance with the fast beat of a Beyonce song.

“Am I allowed to turn gay, because damn,” Bianca muttered, looking utterly captivated by Natasha’s routine. Natasha sighed, rolling her eyes. She’d been numbed to the concept of stripping and pole dancing years ago.

“Midgardians spend too much time feeling the need to constrict themselves to sexuality and gender labels,” Kari spoke up, her eyes also glued to the screen.

“Anyhow, despite her work as a pole dancer,” Emily amended. “And being a high school dropout, she classified as a super genius, fluent in ten languages with the knowledge of multiple PhDs.”

“Of course, she’s Tony Stark’s daughter.” A different girl who hadn’t been identified yet said, accent thickly Russian.

Emily nodded. “And after learning that, she began hacking in her father’s personal bank accounts and using the money to build her own version of the Iron Man armour. After a few uses of it in public, she became known as Iron Angel.” There was more footage, first showing Natasha working in her shop, then actually in her armour, flying over the New Jersey skyline.

The next picture was of the blonde in the room, who had her arms folded both in the picture and in real life. “Stella Rogers, daughter of Steve Rogers. A product of artificial insemination using Steve Rogers’ semen, in hopes of creating a new super soldier.”

“Yo wait, who got cum from Captain America? That’s all kinds of wrong.” Bianca spoke up again, showing herself to be one of the more talkative of the bunch.

“After Doctor Erskine's death, they wanted to collect all samples of DNA they could.” Stella deadpanned, giving Bianca a side glare. “Which included semen.” There were snickers all around the room.

“She was originally supposed to be raised as a weapon for an unknown organization, but a female agent got too attached to her, and ran away with the baby, raising Stella as her own, under the name Sara Carter.” Emily ignored the talk of Steve Rogers’ cum. “Stella grew up knowing of her past, and learning combat, before the death of her adopted mother. She now works as a bartender, laying low in life and avoiding conflict.”

Video of Stella fighting played on the projector. There were impressed grunts around the room.

A final file flashed onto the screen, matching the girl with the Russian accent. “And lastly, Zoe Maximoff, younger sister of Pietro and Wanda Maximoff. Originally from Sokovia, Zoe, with her siblings, was a product of HYDRA experimentations, escaping capture around the time of Ultron’s attack. However, as a result of the HYDRA work done on her siblings, neither remembered her,” Emily said, showing pictures of Zoe in a cell, looking drugged to all hell. “Her powers are mostly undefined, however, seem to revolve around shadows, being able to travel through them, control and manipulate them, and even create them.” She showed videos of Zoe teleporting through shadows, and generally doing weird shit with them. Natasha’s mind was already whirling with scientific explanations for it.

The projector went dim again, and Emily turned to face them all again. “As you can see, you’re all extraordinary young women.” She smiled.

“And?” Stella demanded, voice brusque. “You didn’t bring us all here just to compliment us.”

Emily chuckled. “No, I didn’t. I have… an offer. A request, I suppose.” She sighed. “The Avengers, as many of you may know, are in pieces. Half are wanted criminals, and the other half are in pieces. If aliens decided to fly out of the sky and attack New York again, Earth would be defenceless.”

“I don’t like where this is going,” Natasha muttered, hand drifting to rest on the handle of the door.

“However, when they were whole, the Avengers did prove effective in protecting us.” Emily ignored Natasha’s comment. “After the fall of SHIELD, SHADOW rose, understanding that SHIELD clearly couldn’t do what it was supposed to. Now that the Avengers have fallen, a new team must rise, for the safety of the world.” She tilted her head back. “I believe you’re all aware of what I’m asking. You were specifically chosen because of your relations to the Avengers, I’ll admit, but SHADOW wants you to be better. The world needs you to be better.” She looked at her watch. “I’ll leave you to your devices, you have five minutes to decide. For the sake of keeping this contained, SHADOW takes all of you or none of you. I’ll be back in exactly five minutes to learn your decision. I sincerely hope you make the right one.” She left the room as abruptly as she had come.

There was a beat of silence, and the seven girls shared looks between each other.

“Well, this was fun.” Natasha drawled, forcing a smile. “I’m leaving.” She went to open the door.

“Hey wait!” Bianca said. “Are we even going to talk about this?”

“There’s nothing to talk about.” Kari sighed. “I’m not about to waste my time protecting a realm that is not my own.”

“Don’t you even feel a slight obligation to help others who need it?” Bianca glared at Kari.

“No.” Kari didn’t even hesitate.

Bianca sighed. “How about we do a poll? Get everyone’s thoughts? See who’s for and against and why. Since we already got your opinion, we’ll skip you, Kari. Natasha, why no?” 

“I’m not a hero.” Natasha deadpanned. “And I don’t play well with others. I’m not interested in some super secret girl group.”

“Well, as I said, I’m for, because I think we can help other people.” Bianca grimaced at Natasha’s answer. “Stella, you?”

Stella took a moment to consider it. “I see the pros and cons of it. I’m neutral. If you can get everyone else, you have me.” Her voice was calm and even.

Bianca nodded. “Alright, that’s a start. Jayla? Thoughts?”

“No.” It was the first time Jayla had spoken, and her tone was as deadly as the rest of her demeanour. “I’ve spent months trying to lie low, stay off the radar, you really think I’ll drop everything just because my uncle is considered an Avenger now? I’m a trained assassin, not a hero. Just the idea that someone was able to find me is infuriating enough. I have to start from scratch.” She growled.

“Imani? You?” Bianca’s voice was shaken, but determined. 

Imani sighed. “I didn’t even know I was related to the king of Wakanda before I walked into this room, and honestly, I’m overwhelmed. But… I can’t turn down the chance to help people, I can’t do that in good conscience. I don’t know how you three can. I have to say yes.” She admitted, biting her nails.

Bianca smiled. “Good, that’s good! And Zoe, what do you think?”

Zoe looked up. “I was tortured and experimented on by HYDRA. They saw themselves as the heroes, the saviours of the world. I can’t take the chance that SHADOW is the same. We have no proof of their intentions being pure.” She said, voice rough as she fiddled with her braid.

“Okay, then we approach it the right way.” Bianca tried to persuade her. “We form the team, but if SHADOW proves corrupt, we turn against them. Be the monster that bites the hand that feeds it, right?” She’d wandered to the centre of the room, now talking with wide gestures. 

“Fine,” Zoe said with a relenting sigh. “I’m in. But you still need them.”

“You’re right, you’re right.” Bianca spun around, deciding to face Kari first. “We’re not your people, I get that. But look, Loki put in an awful name for what a Jotun can be, made your people look like monsters. If you fight with us, you can change that. And besides, you look like you love a good fight, right? So does it matter if you’re fighting for good or bad? I’m positive with SHADOW, we’ll pick some wicked fights and earn a bad reputation.” She grinned. “Besides, you have like, a crazy lifespan, right? This’ll be like one crazy week for your internal clock, no matter how long we last.”

Kari stared at her, then laughed outright. “You mortals should avoid pep talks, you’re dreadful at it. Though as I loathe to admit it, Midgard is boring, and I’m annoyed with life. Might as well do something exciting.” She shrugged, studying her nails. 

“Yes!” Bianca whooped. “Jayla, look at me. Your cover is already blown, you already have an entire organization as well as eight dangerous individuals who know who you are. You leave and try to ditch, you’re only a sitting duck out there. One of us gets tortured, or goes bad and decides to spill to HYDRA, you could lose everything. And like you said, you’re an assassin. Do you really want this to be your legacy? You could be so much more. You could save people. Clean the red off your ledger. And I’m sure SHADOW can take measures to protect you from HYDRA. At the very least, you’ll make some cool friends who can.” She gestured around. “Working alone will only give you a life on the run, and that sounds hella lonely. Is that what you want your future to be?”

Jayla stared at her. “One sign of this being sour, and I’m gone.” She warned.

“Is that a yes?” Bianca begged. Jayla sighed but gave a single nod. “Alright! Natasha, you-”

“Oh don’t bother.” Natasha waved her off. “I can’t be the only one to say no, I’ll look like an asshole. Besides, this group clearly needs some brains to counter the brawn. And besides, if no one knows about SHADOW, it wouldn’t hurt to have a look from the inside, collecting data. And being a pole dancer gets boring and repetitive. I guess I’m in. Nice pep talk, Barton.” She hummed, just to annoy Kari.

“Sweet.” Bianca grinned.

“Does this mean we get code names?” Imani asked, perking up.

“I refuse to go by some pointless nickname.” Kari wrinkled her nose.

“Suit yourself, man, I’m totally getting one.” Bianca grinned.

The door opened and Emily came back in. “Have you made your decision?”

“There’s a camera in the corner of the room. You already know the answer to that.” Jayla looked up, glaring.

Emily tilted her head to the side. “Fair enough. Come along, then. We have work to do.”


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team bonding.
> 
> Or not.

The seven were led out of the first room, and into an entire underground facility. It was what Bianca imagined the inside of SHIELD would look like, but cooler.

“Each of you will have your own private quarters, of which you’ll be expected to be moved into by the end of the week. We’ve cut off all necessary ties to your previous ties, informed loved ones that you’ll be MIA for at least a while.” Emily was talking as she led them down the hallways. “You will be allowed to leave the compound whenever you wish if you don’t have a mission. Some missions will involve all of you, others some of you, others specific people. Using data analysis of your previous actions and choices, we’ve compiled a list of compatibility statistics between each of you. Missions will be built around those relationship dynamics, however, SHADOW does encourage team bonding.

“You have a communal kitchen, training room, lounge, library, and showers, however, you all have personal bathrooms within your quarters as well. Your quarters are personalized to best suit your individual needs, for example, Ms Stark’s comes with a complimentary workshop lab area equipped with top of the line tech.” Emily continued, walking them through a roomy yet cosy looking lounge and attached kitchen, with a giant work out room down the hall.

“We’ll see about ‘top of the line’.” Natasha hummed, hands in the pockets of her denim jacket as she tossed curled brown hair over her shoulder.

“Your missions will start in two weeks, to give you time to become accustomed to the facility and each other. A med bay is on the floor below your floor, though there are basic medical supplies in each of your bathrooms. Food will be stoked monthly, though the number will increase if needed. As a starter, you are all issued a level one agent status of SHADOW, badges and information on that will be in your room. If you ever need anything, the floor is equipped with an AI, named SILENCE, that can answer most any concerns.” Emily stopped walking once they had the full tour, back to the lounge. “Are there any questions?”

“Is SILENCE an acronym too?” Bianca raised her hand.

Emily smiled. “Sentient Intelligence Logical Edutainment Network Ecenter.”

“Right, duh,” Bianca said, nodding slowly.

“Hey, you asked.” Imani shrugged.

“Anything else?” Emily arched an eyebrow.

The seven looked at each other, sharing shrugs and nods. 

“I think we’re good, for now,” Stella spoke for the group. Which wasn’t surprising, of all people, Captain America’s daughter was one of the more likely ones to take the lead.

Emily smiled. “Good. I’ll leave you to your devices. Remember, one week to be completely moved in.” She turned on her heel, taking an elevator to leave them in an awkward silence.

“So what now?” Zoe was the first to ask.

Stella took the reigns again. “Well, if we’re going to be a team, it’s best we get to know one another.”

“Sounds good to me.” Bianca decided. “I’m gonna raid the kitchen for some junk food, and everyone can pop a squat in the living room, and we can talk, I guess.” 

After a quick trip to the kitchen, Bianca came back balancing several bags of chips, sweets, and using her feet to kick a twelve pack of soda with her. She set everything down on the coffee table and flopped down on a couch.

Natasha was on a loveseat with her legs draped over the arm, Stella and Imani were sharing a couch with similar body posture of crossed legs and folded arms,  Zoe was sitting on the floor and leaning against the couch Bianca was sprawled out on, Kari was lounging in a plush recliner, and after demands for her to sit down and stop brooding, Jayla took a seat in a pulled up office chair.

“I don’t know what there is to talk about.” Kari sighed, rolling her eyes. “We’ve already been sufficiently introduced.”

“Yeah, but we don’t really know each other,” Zoe said, taking a small handful of chips. 

Stella nodded. “If we’re going to be a team, we need to be able to rely on each other. The Avengers are proof enough of what happens to a team that can’t trust each other.”

“And they expect us to both be carbon copies of our Avenger counterparts, yet somehow a better version.” Jayla’s voice was deep and startling.

Natasha snorted. “She’s got a point.”

“Well, then we prove we can be better, right?” Bianca was never the overly optimistic one, but considering how depressing some of her peers were, she figured she could manage to be a bit less of a nihilist that she usually was.

“We will be better.” Stella’s voice was final.

“Sure, let’s all jump aboard this team thing, and pretend we didn’t all just meet fifteen minutes ago,” Natasha said, rolling her neck.

Stella stood up. “We’re never going to be a team if you keep up that attitude.” She folded her arms.

Natasha laughed, stretching lazily, before a sudden flash of movement had her sitting in the chair the right way, legs spread and elbows on her knees. She leaned forward, eyes sharp. “I don’t see your self-righteous attitude getting us very far either, blondy.”

“I’m the one acting self-righteous?” Stella demanded. “You’ve done nothing but blow off the seriousness of all of this like it’s some kind of joke.”

“Like father like daughter.” Natasha drawled, smirking.

“Who? Me, or you?” Stella cocked an eyebrow.

Natasha shrugged. “Pick your poison darling, I don’t care either way.”

Stella opened her mouth to speak, but Imani interrupted. “Hey! Enough! Just because your father's clashed, doesn’t mean you have to as well!” She said, silencing the argument.

Natasha and Stella didn’t push it, but they didn’t break eye contact either. It was like watching some alpha dog pissing contest.

“You know what we need? Code names!” Bianca decided, voice purposely loud and jarring. “Both for us, and the team as a whole.”

“I will not stoop to the level of frivolous accessories such as code names to my being.” Kari hummed, studying her nails.

Bianca rolled her eyes. “Fine, we’ll skip you.” She thought a moment. “I’m going by Mockingbird. Keeps up the bird thing my dad had going, you know? And it’s totally badass.”

“Then I guess I’m Miss America.” Stella sighed, sitting back down. She frowned. “No, Commander. I’m Commander.”

Natasha rolled her eyes, but a glare from Imani kept her mouth shut. “Well, people already call me Iron Angel. Might as well go with it.”

“I was thinking Bastet,” Imani spoke up. “She’s… the Panther goddess, you know?”

Zoe nodded. “I was going to go with Shadow, but I think that’d get confusing with you know… SHADOW. So, I uh, I’ll go with Twilight.”

Bianca nodded. “All lovely choices, I approve. And you, Jay?”

Jayla looked up. “I don’t know. I just don’t want to be called the Winter Soldier anymore.”

“What if you kept up the winter theme?” Stella offered. Jayla arched an eyebrow.

“You know, Whiteout, Snow White, Snowflake, Snowstorm, Wintertime, Ice Ice Baby, Winter is Coming,” Bianca droned, listing everything she could think of.

“I think you’re just spouting nonsense the more you speak.” Kari wrinkled her nose. Bianca made a face at her.

“I like Snow White,” Jayla said, cutting into the brewing argument.

Bianca grinned. “Great. So we’ve got Commander, Snow White, Iron Angel, Twilight, Kari, Bastet, and Mockingbird. Dope.”

“What about the team?” Zoe asked. 

“A-Force?” Bianca pitched.

“Too Avengers-y,” Natasha said. There were nods.

“Code Black.” Stella offered. “It’s a hospital term, but, I think it fits.”

“Goes with the whole inky darkness motif SHADOW’s got going on, I like it,” Bianca said. “Any opposed?” The girls looked at each other, but no one spoke up. “Sweet, Code Black it is.”

There was a round awkward silence.

Stella cleared her throat. “I’m going to go work out.”

“Group work out session?” Bianca offered. “Come on, let’s burn off some of the calories we just inhaled.”

There were a few groans, but everyone stood up and headed for the training room.


End file.
